“We’re looking forward to using email marketing to develop deeper relationships with our constituents,” said Gary McDonald, Executive Director. “Email will help us have more meaningful contact in more significant ways.”

“We couldn’t have done it without Maureen and the Giving Back Program,” said McDonald. “It made getting started a no-risk situation.”

So happy we could help, Gary. We are delighted we could be part of such a worthy cause.

As a smart marketer, you want more people to open your emails. But how can you make that happen?

After analyzing the open rates of 2 billion emails, Constant Contact discovered the following:

3 Ways to Increase Your Open Rate

Segment Your List/Personalize: Are you still sending the same message to everyone? The data shows that campaigns sent to 35 subscribers or less (suggesting a more targeted audience) have phenomenal open rates compared to campaigns sent to very large lists.

Make Readers Feel Invested: The data shows that nonprofits generally enjoy a higher open rate than business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) senders. Why? Evidently, people feel passionate about the causes with which they associate. What can you do to make your readers feel invested?

Update Your Contact Lists: When was the last time you took a look at your reports to see which email addresses are consistently bouncing? Not sure what an email bounce is or what you should do about it? [Read More]

For over 30 years, the Koinonia Home For Teens has been bringing hope to at-risk youth. For the last four to five years, they’ve been preparing to start email marketing to get people more involved in their program but needed a little help to get started. They found that help through the Dudley & Nunez Communications Giving Back Program.

“We’re extremely grateful for this program and excited to start using Constant Contact as we believe it will be the perfect tool to help us,” said Camilla Ryland, Office Manager for Koinonia Home for Teens. “The Giving Back Program is of immense value to our nonprofit. First, the donation to pay for the service was a big help to the bottom line of our nonprofit. But more importantly, the connection with Maureen is really helping us to go forward and tackle something that had seemed like a big mountain to us before. Maureen is very encouraging. I’m now confident I can go forward and succeed with Constant Contact.”

Glad to make things easier for you, Camilla! Thanks for applying for the Giving Back Program.

Recently we updated our email template . . . again! Yes, it looks very similar to the update we did last January. So why would we update again? (Hint: Read on!)

3 Reasons to Update to a Mobile-Responsive Template

1. Mobile-friendly is no longer enough. It may have been okay in 2015 to use a template that was designed with mobile devices in mind (think one-column, limited pictures, etc.). However, it is now a best practice to choose a template that is actually coded to reformat itself depending on the reader’s screen size. Our new mobile-responsive template actually increases font size and moves pictures around as necessary for increased readability. Mobile-friendly templates are out. Mobile-responsive templates are in!

2. Your readers expect it.When email doesn’t look good on a mobile device, 75% of your readers will delete it, and 30% will unsubscribe. Remember: More than half of all email is now being opened on a mobile device.

3. It’s easy to upgrade to mobile-responsive emails. If you’re using an email service provider like Constant Contact, you already have access to dozens of mobile-responsive templates at no additional charge. Need help finding those templates? Schedule a complimentary consultation with me by clicking here.

January is a time for resolutions and regrouping. Building relationships by growing your email list is a great 2016 resolution for any small business or nonprofit. Why? Watch Dave’s video below to find out. (Spoiler: Did you know that email is 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined?)

We recently held our second annual Nonprofit Super Summit. It was here that we met Latiya Gholar, the Executive Director for Designing for a Difference — a nonprofit that teaches fashion design to the community. They also have a fashion based after-school program that promotes self-esteem and creativity.

After the Summit, Gholar applied for our Giving Back Program.

“I can see how Constant Contact is really going to help me organize my contacts and promote our organization,” said Gholar. “As Maureen walked me through the setup, it actually brought tears to my eyes to see how everything is done for me within the Constant Contact software.”

“And the training provided by Maureen was a huge timesaver and great motivation,” said Gholar. “With Maureen as an accountability partner, I was able to take the steps I needed to go forward.”

Glad to help, Latiya! Thanks for being part of the Giving Back Program.

If you ever want to know if people are reading your emails, just make a mistake. We did, and you let us know it. In a recent newsletter, we featured head shot photo blunders and linked to the wrong site.

But guess what!

We still got a great open rate, plenty of reader engagement, and enhanced our brand. Why?

Because email marketing works . . . even for imperfect people.

Too often people have analysis paralysis when it comes to creating emails. In the pursuit of perfection, they become overwhelmed and then don’t communicate regularly with their audience.

Such was the case with Kathy. She was spending a lot of time trying to find the perfect picture. When she couldn’t, she just wouldn’t email.

But email marketing doesn’t work if you don’t hit the SEND button!

After a brief consultation, Kathy and I developed a plan to simplify. Together we came to the conclusion that her best option would be to send out an imperfect email. And it worked!

She writes:

Amazing! I already got the campaign done in just a couple of minutes.

Jeez! I wish I had thought of just keeping it simple, but sometimes we get so bogged down with other stuff we don’t always see the simple solutions.

THANK YOU!!

-Kathy

The pursuit of perfection can be a good thing. But communicating with your audience on a regular basis — even in an imperfect way — can be even better.

• Partner and Co-Promote: I recently partnered with three other ladies on a Back-to-School for Women in Business series. Combining all our marketing resources multiplied our reach, i.e., four email lists, four sets of social media accounts, four sets of contacts, etc.

• Be a Guest: Always be on the lookout to be a guest. Could you share your expertise as a guest speaker at a live event? Do you know someone with a podcast? Or could you write a guest blog post or be featured on someone else’s blog?

Giving Back Program recipient Unite to Light had been sending out communications just a few times a year. President Dawn O’Bar, however, was looking for better ways to spread the message of her organization that provides reliable solar lights to impoverished students around the world.

“From Maureen, I learned there were many ways I could improve our email marketing,” said O’Bar. “For example, she recommended cutting down the length of our newsletter and communicating with our readers more frequently.”

When Unite to Light decided to switch to Constant Contact, Dawn found the Giving Back Program made it easy. “Maureen provided a well-paced orientation — customized to my specific needs,” said O’Bar. “She was very knowledgeable and answered all my questions.”

Unite to Light also appreciated the donation through the Giving Back Program. “The reimbursement to our nonprofit is huge,” said O’Bar. “We do not have any extra money in the budget, so it was great to be able to try Constant Contact without any risk.”

So happy we could be of help, Dawn. We’re delighted we could be part of such a great worldwide cause.